AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Wednesday, August 1, 2007:

Dow Jones Agrees to Be Bought by Murdoch

NEW YORK (AP) _ Rupert Murdoch has sealed a deal to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. for $5 billion, ending a century of family ownership and adding a crown jewel to his global media empire, News Corp. The companies said in the wee hours of Wednesday morning that they signed a definitive merger agreement after the deal won sufficient support to pass from a deeply divided Bancroft family, which has controlled the storied newspaper publisher for generations.

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Asia Markets Slide Following Wall Street

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Asian markets fell Wednesday after Wall Street resumed its slide from last week amid persistent concerns that woes in the U.S. housing loan market could spread and drag on global growth. By midday, Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index had plunged 3.3 percent to 22,413.78, while South Korea's key index was down 4.4 percent.

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FDA Seeks Further Testing of Wyeth Drug

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Federal regulators' demand for further testing of a nonhormonal drug for menopause symptoms should not delay approval of the same drug as a depression treatment, executives at drugmaker Wyeth said late Tuesday. In a conference call to address concerns triggered by the Food and Drug Administration's decision to require a new study of the drug Pristiq, officials at Wyeth said they will work closely with the FDA to speed the drug's approval as the first nonhormonal treatment for menopause symptoms.

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Wall Street Skids on Subprime Anxiety

NEW YORK (AP) _ Wall Street resumed its downward skid Tuesday, falling sharply as renewed concerns about soured home loans blew away what had looked like a solid recovery rally. The Dow Jones industrials lost nearly 150 points, while investors seeking safety moved into bonds. Early in the session, stocks soared following strong earnings from General Motors Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. and amid somewhat mixed economic data. But the market pulled back after American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. said Tuesday it hasn't been able to tap into its credit lines and has hired advisers to consider its options, including the sale of its assets.

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Oil Prices Inch Down to Hover at $78

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices fell Wednesday as traders took profits after the front-month crude futures contract closed at a record price in the previous session. Light, sweet crude for September delivery lost 19 cents to $78.02 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, mid-afternoon in Singapore.

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AHM Woes Drag Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. plunged 90 percent Tuesday after the company rai 1/4sed fears it may become insolvent, renewing concern about worsening credit quality in the mortgage market and killing a Wall Street rally. The struggling mortgage lender said its financial backers have essentially pulled the plug. The Wall Street banks that lend American Home Mortgage money for home loans _ which include firms like UBS AG, Bear Stearns Cos., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. _ will not extend the company any more money, and some have demanded back the money they have lent.

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J&J to Cut Up to 4,820 Jobs on Drug Woes

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it would reduce its global work force by up to 4 percent, or up to 4,820 jobs, to cut costs due to slumping sales of heart stents and its No. 2 drug, plus looming patent expirations. The health care giant, which employs about 120,500 people in 57 countries, said the restructuring _ its largest ever _ would bring pretax charges of $550 million to $750 million later this year, as well as other, unspecified steps besides job cuts.

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GM Reports 2Q Profit of $891 Million

DETROIT (AP) _ General Motors Corp. ran its string of profitable quarters to three on Tuesday when it announced second-quarter net income of $891 million that came largely from overseas operations. The earnings growth in Europe, Latin America, Asia and other areas eclipsed lingering problems in North America. Although GM showed vast improvement in its backyard, it still posted a net loss of $39 million there.

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Northwest Turns Profit After Chapter 11

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Northwest Airlines is out of bankruptcy and making money, but it's already running into those familiar airline headaches: Fuel costs and staffing issues. The nation's fifth-largest airline canceled 73 of 1,417 flights scheduled Tuesday, according to FlightStats.com, as its struggle to find enough pilots continued. Oil futures, which set a record high of more than $78 a barrel, were another headwind.

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Consumer Spending Cools in June

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Shoppers took a break in June, boosting their spending at the slowest pace in nine months as high gasoline prices and fallout from the housing slump made people think twice about buying. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that consumer spending edged up by just 0.1 percent. That marked a pullback from May's brisk 0.6 percent rise and was the smallest increase since last September. Incomes, the fuel for future spending, rose 0.4 percent for a second month in a row.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Wednesday at a bid price of $660.90 a troy ounce, down from $665.60 late Tuesday.

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Japan Markets

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks tumbled to a four-and-a-half month low Wednesday on disappointing earnings from the nation's megabanks and in reaction to another drop on Wall Street caused by woes in U.S. housing loans.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar fell sharply against the yen in Asian trading Wednesday as non-Japanese investors sold the U.S. currency to lock in profits amid expectations that subprime mortgage woes will continue to weigh on U.S. shares.

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